Holy Empress Uriel

The White Death

The Black Doves

Uriel Qualanthri was once a striking and severe acolyte of Aerenal, a combat medic and warrior among the Black Doves — the elvish warrior priests of mercy and death. She judged the dead and dying on the battlefield without pity, destroying undead and silencing those she deemed unfit to survive. Though revered as a merciful healer, she was branded with the Dragonmark of Death, member of a bloodline most believed exterminated by the dragons and elves who destroyed House Vol. She secretly worshipped and sought to resurrect Erandis Vol, the half-dragon lich queen, believing Vol and her offspring to be the ultimate rulers of Eberron.

Uriel fought in the Last War, conscripted into the Pax Imperium with her sisters of the Light of Aerenal. She healed with one hand and slew with the other, concealing her nature from allies and rivals. After the war, she established a frontier hospital in the Talenta Plains to respond to a growing pestilence. There, she secretly spread the affliction rather than cure it and cultivated undead servants in preparation for her vile intents.

Ascension to the Throne

Uriel was ultimately successful in her quest to bring the rise of Erandis Vol, by becoming the Dragon mother herself. She discovered that her commander, Gabrielle Duin, was the secret consort of Emperor Caius III and a rebel spy, with a plan to marry the Dragon Emperor and bear his child. Uriel proved herself a superior necromancer and concubine, and eventually slew Duin and took her place at the Emperor’s side. With a blasphemous ritual she placed the amorous Emperor into a permanent coma, where he could do little else but affirm her mandate and impregnate her at her whim. For a decade she has born his daughters, each a failure to produce the Dragon heir.

During her rise to power, she allied with three other malcontents who occupied positions of power throughout the Empire – John C. LaBeefe, a regional governor and transportation magnate consumed by eldritch abberations, Locke Pierce, an artificer and automaton who led the Warforged rebellion in the Mournlands, and Esther Crona, the apprentice of Varyn Crona who assassinated most of the Imperial Council and now leads the Inquisition, an imperial police force charged with destroying the Emporer’s enemies. The four are now bitter enemies, and work from their various sinecures to undermine one another in a struggle for ultimate power. Uriel is possibly the most powerful of them all, controlling the Church, the Imperial bureaucracy, and the Emperor himself.

Founding The Ivory Lazaret

In her holy vigil at his side, Uriel forswore battle and committed herself to the founding of the Ivory Lazaret, the hospital-retreat and cloister in the Imperial City built around the Emperor’s incapacitated flesh. She purged the highest echelons of the Black Doves with witch hunts for treason and blasphemy, and inducted the loyal remainder into a fertility cult, a corrupted nunnery obsessed with mothering the dragon bloodline. There, they birth a race of half-dragons destined to lead Uriel’s undead armies to scourge Khorvaire’s kingdoms, so that Uriel and her elvish sisters could return to Aerenal victorious.

Uriel is now revered as the Holy Empress, but in truth she rules as the terrible sorcerous queen known as the White Death. She has crushed gods, heroes, and faiths which might oppose her unholy charade. She is pregnant with her fifth child by the comatose Emperor and is said never to leave his side. Yet in truth she raises vast armies of undead from the victims of her wars, ruling them in secret with a blackened hand and a crown of lies.

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The Ivory Lazaret

The grand ivory doors of the Lazaret swing open onto a shallow antechamber. You step into a vaulted vestibule of soaring columns and radiant stained glass. Colored light scatters across the ivory floor where a mosaic of doves spreads its wings in flight. Families kneel on benches in hushed vigil, their heads bowed too long, their stillness uncanny. At the far end, beneath a colossal mural of the Emperor Caius, two wardens in sable cloaks keep solemn watch.

The silence here is suffocating, as though every whisper must bend itself into prayer. The air is cool and fragrant with incense. In the center stands a marble basin filled with clear water, its surface reflecting the golden light of lanterns above. Inscribed across the lintel in Elvish is a phrase: “None may enter who come bearing harm.”

The Threshold of Mercy

• Stained Glass Windows: Rich blues and reds depict doves and lilies. A closer look reveals skeletal wings hidden in the glasswork.
• Petitioners: Families who never move, lips pressed in endless prayer. Waxen skin betrays their true nature only under scrutiny.
• Marble Basin: The water is faintly enchanted. Any creature who bathes their hands or feet in it feels cleansed, healed of minor aches.
• Inscription: A DC 12 Arcana or Religion check reveals the phrase is not just a blessing — it is a binding ward.
• Second Doors: These remain sealed by invisible force until the ward is appeased.

Anyone attempting to pass without honoring the ward triggers its defense:

• The intruder must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution save or suffer a wave of infirmity, taking 2d10 radiant damage and gaining disadvantage on Strength checks until their next rest.
• Hostile intent (weapons drawn, obvious threats) causes the ward to lash out with radiant fire (2d8, DC 14 Dex half) and alerts the Temple wardens.

The ward ignores the Lazaret’s staff and patients, who naturally wash their hands, bow, and pass quietly.

Solution

• Bathing in the basin (or otherwise ritually cleansing) suppresses the ward.
• Speaking a prayer of mercy, laying down a weapon, or tending another creature’s wound is also sufficient.
• Clever players may disable it with dispel magic (DC 14) or deceive it with illusions mimicking ritual actions, but if discovered will be considered hostile.

Infection

In a baneful twist, players who succeed in the solution and wash themselves are infected with a disease (unless immune) which drains their power when they need it most. Until the infection is cured, each time this character rolls initative they suffer 1 level of exhaustion, which stacks. Casting lesser restoration on the creature will cure one level of exhaustion. Creatures Uriel chooses are immune to this effect.

Ritual Reliquary

A locked reliquary hidden beneath the lectern contains a velvet pouch of powdered diamond (500 gp) used in ritual healings, a priest’s pack, and two bags each containing 30 gold.

The key to the reliquary can be found hanging from a nail in the corner of the room, a successful Investigation check DC 16 will reveal it.

The Last Ward

Beyond carved double doors lies a cathedral of hospital beds. Dozens of figures lie motionless under white sheets, their shallow breathing almost imperceptible. Nuns in immaculate habits drift between rows, their voices twining in a lullaby that never ends. The air muffles all sound — speech above a whisper dies on the lips.

The hush here gnaws at the mind. Even the scrape of boots feels like a trespass.

Apothecary’s Cabinet

A locked apothecary cabinet contains crystal vials: 3 Potions of Greater Healing, a Tincture of Stillness (potion, uncommon) and an herbalist’s kit.

Tincture of Stillness. When drunk, this tincture grants resistance to necrotic damage for 1 hour, but the user is unable to speak above a whisper during that time.

The Daughters’ Nursery

The doors open to a palatial nursery awash in golden daylight. Rugs embroidered with dragons and lilies cover the floor; ivory dolls and gilded blocks litter the space. Eight young girls, ages three to ten, are scattered across the room: one sketching in chalk, two stacking blocks, the eldest helping the youngest balance on a stool. For a moment it is idyllic. Then they all turn at once, their heads snapping toward the doorway, gloom-filled eyes fixed on you.

Features

• Lavish Toys: Blocks inlaid with gold leaf, dolls sewn with gems for eyes, miniature thrones polished smooth.
• Portraits: Every wall bears a yearly portrait of the daughters — all eight a spitting image of their mother: *Muriel, Drakiel, , Purell, Enwe, Fenwe,
• Unison: The girls hum or whisper together, finishing each other’s words as though one voice were shared.

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The Imperial Garden

An arched walkway opens into a sweeping terrace overlooking the capital city. Beds of lilies and roses bloom in impeccable order, their fragrance almost too pure. Smooth ivory paths wind wide enough to carry the Emperor’s chair, every tile polished mirror-bright. At the garden’s center stands a great ivory tree, its branches hung with silver chimes that tinkle with each passing breeze.

Fountain of Mercy

A dove-shaped pool spills water so clear it seems unreal. Creatures who drink the water gain the benefits of a Long Rest, a creature can benefit from this blessing only once in their lifetime.

The Dead Bishop

Bleeding into the roots of the ivory tree is a freshly murdered archbishop of Arawai wearing an Amulet of Health, still clutched by his now dead hand. His final prayer, frozen on his lips and dry motionless eyes, was cut short by a knife in the back.

The amulet can be claimed, but disturbing the corpse risks alerting the garden’s hidden wardens. If the body is moved or the amulet taken, the archbisop springs to life as a Revenant Wight bound to slay whoever stole his charge.

Amulet of Health

Wonderous item, Rare (requires attunement)

This knob is pretty nice. When attached to a door, it allows a user to open that door with the strength of the nearest animal. For example, if there is a cow nearby, the user will have the “strength of a cow” while opening this door.

Sanctify the Dead

A character may attempt to sanctify the corpse instead of looting it. A DC 15 Religion check (or casting a holy spell such as protection from evil and good or gentle repose) keeps the archbishop at peace and prevents his reanimation. Doing so still allows recovery of the amulet, but only if the players recognize the necessity of treating the scene with reverence.

The Emperor’s Hospice

The giant golden doors open into a vaulted chamber draped in silks of ivory and gold. The air is thick with incense and hushed prayer, the floor laid with carpets soft enough to muffle every step. At its heart rests the Dragon Emperor Caius III upon a golden bed, his frail body swaddled in immaculate linens. His eyes are closed, lips faintly moving in ceaseless assent — “Yes….yes….” — as though answering a voice only he hears.

Around him circle six Sisters of the Light, their chants weaving a low harmony that rises to the painted dome above. The murals here show angels, demons, and dragons alike, bent in adoration, but their faces seem strained, their eyes sharp with judgment.

Against the side of the bed, clasping the Emperor’s right hand, kneels Holy Empress Uriel whispering an earnest prayer. Her hand rests lightly on the ivory rail at the Emperor’s side, her gaze steady, unblinking. She makes no move to advance, no sign of aggression — but her awareness of the group is assured.

Imperial Convalescence

This is not a throne room or temple — it is a private chamber of convalescence, for a hopelessly ill and tremendously wealthy man. The finery and cleanliness is heavenly, an illusion of mercy and divine grace hangs heavy in the silent shuffling and clearing of throats. But every breath of incense, every whispered “yes,” reveals it for what it is: a mausoleum of the living. Some natural power is coming from the Emperor and the Sisters are drawing it out. The uniform pregnancy of the convent is especially unsettling, and this

• Golden Bier: The Emperor’s body lies motionless, gaunt yet strangely radiant.
• Chanting Sisters: Six nuns circle the bier, their chants rising in eerie harmony.
• Murals of Angels: Painted eyes in the dome seem to follow intruders, wings cracking faintly as if alive.

The Confrontation

• Dialogue: Uriel may parley briefly, testing the party’s resolve. She will be especially interested if any of the other Unforeseen have sent them.
• Sanctification: Holy spells (dispel evil and good, hallow, protection from evil and good) dim the Sisters’ chant, buying precious time.

Treasure

• The Emperor’s Regalia: Crown, scepter, and ring, worth 5,000 gp as treasure but priceless as symbols of authority.
• The Emperor’s Fate: If preserved, his body may be restored by divine intervention. If killed, his death cements Uriel’s claim forever.
• Uriel’s Fall (or Triumph): Defeating her breaks the Lazaret’s enchantments. Failing here means the White Death’s reign continues, her unborn heirs assured of their inheritance.

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